how to stop smoking

Alrighty…
I have a friend who is a smoker and has been for a couple months now. He used to smoke a while back but stopped and didn’t pick it back up for a while. Now, he has started again. He says he wants to stop, but can’t and doesn’t have a real good reason to. I’ve told him about the whole cancer thing and all that stuff. What else can I/he do to help him stop? I’d appreciate any feedback you have. Thanx

Don’t nag. There is no one who starts smoking in this day and age without realizing they’re hastening their own deaths. If that’s not important now, no amount of nagging in the world will make it so.

“You cannot reason someone out of a position they did not reason themselves into in the first place.” --Johnathon Swift

If he wants to stop, the process is deceptively simple. Every time he wants a cigarette, he needs to not have one. Over a period of time of consistently following this plan, the craving eases and eventually goes away. No one else is going to do that for him.

In the meantime, simply accept it. I’d suggest making it clear you won’t let him smoke in your car and in your house and whatnot, and when in public and on his property, live with it.

Your friend is a nicotine addict. He won’t quit until he’s ready, and there’s not much anyone can do to make him ready, other than enforce their own rights to a smoke-free car and home when he visits. Drastic is correct. When this individual wants to quit, there are many options. Cold Turkey is still the most effective. Nicotine gum, nicotine patches, nasal sprays, inhalers are all available to use as a crutch (and there’s nothing inherently wrong with a crutch, just ask someone who’s had a broken leg who’s needed one!), and the anti-depressant buspirone (Trade name:Buspar, Zyban) can also help increase success rates. But all the above is worthless until said individual decides he wants to quit.

Qadgop, MD

Sure, get on Survivor.

Well…he says he wants to stop but can’t. He can stop, he’s done it before. His wanting to and determination to quit has to exceed his addiction, it’s really that simple. You can’t do it for him, though you can be supportive as all get out when he attempts to stop again!

Take it from a (quit)smoker who has been on & off that wagon so many times I’ve lost count. :rolleyes:

And yes, he knows all the reasons he should quit. He’s just in denial, it’s an Addiction Thing. The oleder he gets & the longer he smokes, the more clear those reasons will become.

Bah. Don’t ask me. I’m back on the wagon after a 3-day stint as a smoker again.

I hate smoking. I hate cigarettes. Why in hell did I pick it back up again?

I’m going to buy some patches and see if I can ease things a bit. I’ve re-set my silkquit meter too. sigh
slapping myself upside the head and wondering what in the world I was thinking

Why don’t they start one of those Smokers Anonymous meeting things? You know, powerless over cigarets.

The only time I quit, I quit for four years. I did it cold turkey. Jolly Ranchers and mints helped a lot as well. And yeah, I gained weight, but I started working out, and that fixed the chubby problem.

I went back to smoking later, unfortunately. Stress.

I’m still puffing. I like smoking, that’s my problem. But what others have said on this thread is true: you don’t quit unless you really want to. It was the single most difficult thing I ever did. I’m not kidding.

I also think that cold turkey is the best way.

I’m with Creaky on the cold turkey method - there is no other really effective way: you’ve just got to grit your teeth and get on with it.

Something I found helpful though was never to say to myself, “You can’t have a cigarette - you’ve given up - you’re never ever having a cigarette AGAIN.” Because that made the whole thing so vast, permanent and cosmic that I immediately gave up giving up. I used to say to myself, “Yes, of COURSE you can have one - in ten minutes/after you’ve done the washing up/after the end of this programme.” And it seemed to work, because, like tomorrow, “in ten minutes” never comes - but you’ve conned your panic mechanism.

Actually, Handy’s got a good point. (Waiting for the Earth to crack open…nope, nuthin. Guess it’s safe to proceed :))

For the real hardcore smokers, SA, or smoker’s anonymous meetings can be a real help. They don’t say: you can never smoke again. They say: Don’t smoke today, and if you do these things, you won’t have to smoke again. It’s modeled on AA’s 12 steps, and like any 12 step program, it’s free, you can go there, take what you can use, and leave the rest.